User blog:AlbertEpstein/Interview with Anna Von Rake
Hello Expanse fans and Wiki fans! Welcome to another installment in the series of profiles on the fans themselves and the fourth about the cosplayers in the fall 2017 contest. In this edition, I talk to one of the early participants and really someone at the center when the contest first was conceived. I'll get right into it and let her talk about herself. ⸻'Tell us a little something about yourself. What town/country do you call home?'Hello Screaming Firehawks"Screaming Firehawk" was one of the name suggestions that Alex shared in for what would later become the Rocinante. This name has been adopted for the fandom by a group of fans on Twitter. and others readers! My name is Ania and I am from Poland. I am a big fan of “The Expanse” and would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in this interview. ⸻'How did you first get into the Expanse? Books? TV? How do the two compare? how is each better than the other?' I started watching the series first and, after that, started looking for books. In fact, it was only one book. At the moment, we have only the first book in Poland, released in two parts. And I only can compare it to the series. I noticed some differences but, I guess that not everything can be transferred from books to screen. So, I am sure that the creators had to give up something and made something a little different. Anyway, I am excited about the show and how it is done. The visual aspect impresses me and all these special effects are done at a very professional level. ⸻'Will you read Caliban’s War in Polish if it comes out? Will you read the books in English only instead?' I'll read all the books of the series in Polish for sure. And I want to read them in English too. ⸻'If the books come out as audiobooks in Polish, who would you think could make a good narrator? Would you like to do it?' Hard to say, because I'm not a fan of audiobooks. I prefer a printed book, in my hand, which smells of printing ink and has its weight. ;) ⸻'I learned that English isn't your first language. Does reading or watching in different languages introduce many challenges? Does it provide a unique perspective or more layered experience?' Unfortunately, when I went to school, the language we learned was Russian. I learned English on my own, so my level of in this language is very far away from ideal. I am sure that is why I am not able to catch some language nuances or word games. And quite a lot could have right by me. Even if I watch a TV series or films with Polish subtitles, Polish translation does not have to match the exact meaning of the original. Now I have all books from “The Expanse” series in English. I plan to read all of them all in the near future. Wish me luck! You don't need it but, you have us cheering you on anyhow! ⸻'Are you interested in any other science fiction franchise?' Yes, of course. For many years, I have been a big fan of „Star Trek”. And I also like „Space Above and Beyond”, „Firefly”, „Farscape” or „Dark Matter”. ⸻'What do you see as special about the Expanse that you don't normally find in similar fiction?' The creators of this TV series respect the principles of physics. For example: in “Star Trek”, we saw hundreds of times as spaceships were flying at warp speed and nothing happens inside. And, in “The Expanse,” every change of speed or gravity is felt by the crew members. ⸻'Why did you pick the character you did, Joe Miller?' I am a huge fan of classic black and white noir films. I always pay special attention to Chandler's "tired-of-life", hard-boiled and cynical private eyes with Fedoras on their heads. Also, the whole mood of these films and books is amazing. And what would happen if all of that narrative moved into space? We would get „The Expanse” with my ideal hero - Josephus Miller. This was the guy who made me interested in this TV series the most. And with every next episode his story line drew me in more and more. And it was obvious that the character I chose for my cosplay would be Joe Miller. ⸻'What do you think is the most defining moment for the character?' I think it is the moment when he shaved the left side of his head. There is some poetic symbolism in it. Miller worked for Star Helix and his countrymen considered him as Welwala - a traitor to his own people. He isolated himself from others, had no friends, was an asshole and basically all that he had was his job where he saw all of cruelty. He was born in The Belt but his clothes were very Earther-like. To be honest, he looked more like an Earther than a Belter. Even his haircut was half-and-half - the shaved part belonged to The Belt and the unshaved belonged to The Earth. It showed his inner conflict in some way. And this moment on Tycho Station when he shaved the left side of his head to a great Belter's mohawk showed that he found his real place then. He is and always will be The Belter, no matter what his countrymen think of him. ⸻'Are you a fan of any other particular work by Thomas Jane?' Of course! I love “Punisher”. I also like “Give'em Hell, Malone!”, “Mutant Chronicles”, “The Mist”, “Dreamcatcher”, “Hung” was funny... A few days ago I watched the adaptations of Steven King's novels “1922” and I must admit that Thomas Jane was great on this film. ⸻'I love the detail you put into your costume from the choice of setting, to the drinking bulb, to the bare feet to the star helix belt buckle. Did you design and construct your cosplay or did you use specific input from other people?' First of all, I would like to start with the most important thing. My bare feet are my bow, respects and really sincere thanks to Thomas Jane for his Josephus Miller portrayal. He did an amazing and great job. Thank you! Back to cosplay. Every time when I make any new cosplay, I pay attention to every one of the smallest details. Next, I try to copy them the most thoroughly as I can. It means looking at hundreds of pictures of the cosplay-character. Sometimes, I make print-screens and then I analyze them at different angles trying to figure out how something works there. In the case of Miller's cosplay, I had some parts ready, borrowed or else bought some things and I ordered something to be done. For example, the trousers are from my older brother's wedding suit. I always have a lot of fun picking up all the different pieces of clothing and checking how they fit together. And thank you so much for your kind words about my cosplay. *bows head* with respect to your work. ⸻'What challenges did you overcome to make it happen and come together? / What problems did you have to solve trying to make your cosplay?' Yes, I had a problem to find the right colour shirt. Ladies from second-hand shops began to recognize me when I visited their shops twice a week and asked for shirts in dark-blue colour or white with small brown dots. Finally, I found two -- one dark-blue which I used for that cosplay competition and another with brighter blue colour. This last one is perfect for cosplay of Miller from 2nd season. ⸻'How long did it take to put together?' There are two versions of this cosplay. The first one I prepared especially for the biggest convention in Poland on this year. It took me less than two months before this event and I had only the hat on-hand at the beginning. It was the fastest cosplay I ever made in my life. And for our competition was created a second version. I changed only a few small details and it took me a little time. Basically, it can be said that this cosplay was created in less than two months. ⸻'You made others more elaborate, complex, or time-consuming? How long do they typically take? How long did you longest take? What was it?' The longest one was my cosplay of Cpt. Jack Harkness from Doctor Who/Torchwood. I had a coat and I had problems with buttons and epaulets. This coat I had is a RAFRoyal Airforce UK coat from WWII and I tried to have the originals details. I'd been looking them for really long time, it was almost half year. And I found them, original buttons from WWII and epaulets. ⸻'Who was the photographer?' Good friend of mine - Fisty. She is a self-taught photographer. She most likes the photography of culinary art, portrait and reportage. You can check out her work on these links: below ⸻'Next to your own cosplay, who's entry do you like most?' This is a very difficult question because each of the participants in this competition made a very good cosplays. It is difficult to choose one favourite so I will mention a few. There were a few Millers so I liked cosplay of @Necr0w and @Lyve_Wire. From The Belters cosplays - @Duffy_Clan and @WencheBandida. And @theora666 is the best logo of ''Roci'' I have ever seen. ⸻'In addition to Thomas Jane, the actor who portrays your character, who involved with the show would you like to meet? / Out of all the people who work on the show, we can predict that you would like to meet Thomas Jane. Give us the name of someone else who works on the show that you'd like to meet? ' To meet Thomas Thomas would be like a dreams come true but if I have to choose another character, I have no choice. I would like to meet Greg Bryk, who portrayed . ⸻'So, you would get to meet both, actually. What do you tell Greg when he asks what was the reason he also was on your list of people you would meet?' Do you know TED (conference)? It's very nice idea. Greg is one of the speakers on there. I heard his talk and it was interesting. I would like to talk to him about TED. ⸻'When you invite others to try out the Expanse, how does it go? what do you tell them? how does it work?' „Hey! I have something for you. The best space opera I have ever seen. This is TV series with a mix of classic noir, horror, S-F, sociological and political elements. I am sure that you should find something for you and you will not be bored. Great story line, action, visual effects, space ships, characters... Oh Lord... Do you remember ‘Punisher’ from 2004? Yes, yes, you are right, the same actor who portrayed Frank Castle there plays on ‘The Expanse.’ This time he is the most f*ing amazing space noir detective ever. - It looks almost the same.” A few of my friends will start watching it and some will tell me that they do not have time to watch series and films. ⸻'What kinds of lessons or take-aways do you believe most people bring out of the Expanse?' No matter how much we colonize the cosmos and as our technology grows, social stratification based on origin and financial status will always lead to further conflicts. We will change it in our future or we will continue to make the same mistakes. That’s a well-said opinion. “Social stratification?” Most native speakers don’t even use that term ⸻'If you have read ahead in the books, can you tell us without spoilers a hint as to what part of the story you're looking forward most to seeing in the show? If you don't read ahead, what are you hoping will happen to the story this coming season?' As I mentioned in one of the replies to an earlier question, in Poland, there is only the first book from this series and I only know that one. However, there is a chance that the series will be re-released by another book publisher in next year but, for the moment, thanks to my many friends here, I know a lot of spoilers what will happen in the next books. It is difficult to say what I'm most looking forward to in the show without spoilers. SPOILER Appearance of The Investigator. ⸻'What interesting fact do you want others to know about you?' I do not like Star Wars, really. ⸻'What other things are you interested in? What other endeavors are you working on or playing with?' For a long time, I have helped to create a radio show here where we play and focus on the music from the 80's. For me, number one thing will always be Synthpop and New Romantic, the old one and the modern one. I am in the fandom and together with friend of mine we have plan to do a knowledge contest about “The Expanse” at one of the of next year's conventions in Poland. Besides that, I am learning Norwegian, I love noir films and I like very long walks with a good book in my backpack. ⸻'You actually coined the hash tag that everyone used! You were in the conversation that started this contest and you threw it out. That's when things really took shape. @WencheBandida used your hash tag to launch the first call for cosplays. How does it feel to play that role?' It was a very spontaneous idea for this hash tag and probably the easiest thing that came to my mind. Surprised me that the other people in this conversation so quickly accepted it. I do not hide that it pleased me. Thank you for answering my questions. It was fun seeing your cosplay and so many others. It was such a terrific contest. We have so much to look forward to for next time. I look forward to learning more about all the fans and sharing their stories. Keep a watch out for the next fan showcase. Please check out the links here for more about Ania, the other cosplayers and everything about The Expanse. Media ExpanseHalloweenCosplay2017 03-00.jpg ExpanseHalloweenCosplay2017 03-01.jpg ExpanseHalloweenCosplay2017 03-02.jpg ExpanseHalloweenCosplay2017 03-03.jpg ExpanseHalloweenCosplay2017 03-04.jpg ExpanseHalloweenCosplay2017 03-05.jpg See also *The Expanse: Halloween cosplay contest External links * Greg Bryk's TEDx Talk @QueensU * https://fisty.carbonmade.com/ * https://www.instagram.com/fisty.pl/ * https://www.facebook.com/FistyArts/ * Jack Harkness' RAF jacket * #TheExpanseCosplayWeek on Twitter Category:Blog posts